


Letters From The End of The World

by felisblanco



Category: The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 18:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11491914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felisblanco/pseuds/felisblanco
Summary: A traveller stumbles upon a very strange world indeed.





	Letters From The End of The World

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of a fanfic assignment at Uni.

_September 29 th 1905_

_My dearest Madeleine._

_I do hope this letter finds you well. It is with deep regret that I write you at this time when I should already be in your loving arms in dear old London, as I had promised I would be back no later than the First of October. Please do not be alarmed, my dear, but I had the misfortune of being involved in an accident as I was driving along a rather bumpy country road I hoped would shorten my journey. I am quite all right apart from a mild concussion; in fact the doctor at the hospital assures me I will be free to leave tomorrow morning. The motor-car however, I have been told, is damaged and will need some repair. As soon as I am discharged I will be able to go and see for myself the extent of damage and determine from there on what to do. There is a guesthouse in the village where I can dwell if needed, hopefully though only for a night or two._

_All my love, dear Madeleine, and I hope to see you soon,_  
_K._

_October 1 st 1905_

_My sweetest Madeleine._

_It seems I might have to postpone our reunion for quite some time yet. The motor-car is in such a state, I am afraid. The right front wheel is bended beyond repair, the glass windows are all broken and one side panel is horribly dented. It will take at least a week for the spare parts to arrive and then some days until it will be ready to travel._

_But that is not what worries me the most. I fear the doctor might have underestimated my head injury. As I was taking a short stroll around the outskirts of the village to clear my still muddled head and strengthen my limbs, I came upon a badger. Unusual, you would agree, since they are not ones for company and prefer the woods to the open road. But that particular detail was not what alarmed me. This badger was as large as me! And furthermore, it walked on its hind legs, was dressed in clothes and smoking a pipe! It even bid me good morning as it passed me by! Clearly I am having some sort of confusion of the brain that is making me see and hear things that are not really there. I am to see the doctor in the morning. I hope and pray that whatever is interfering with my sight and brain is minor and easily remedied._

_All my love,_  
_K._

_October 3 rd 1905_

_My dear, dear Madeleine._

_I do not want to alarm you but I have seen and heard things that cannot in any way belong to reality. Remember the badger? Well, I mentioned it to the doctor the next morning and he merely smiled and said, and I quote, “Badger, eh? I have been trying to tell him to lay off that pipe for years but you know how it is.” I could only stare at him and then quickly bid my farewell._

_I then went by the garage to see if there were any news of the spare parts to my motor-car. “Oh, you wanted me to order them right away?” the blasted man asked me, as if I was here on holiday and not trapped in a God forsaken place far away from my beloved. I kept my temper but insisted that he would see to it that my vehicle be repaired and ready for me to leave by the end of the week. The man reluctantly agreed to my terms and fetched the list of parts needed. Then he turned to a rabbit that sat by his feet, handed it the list and asked it to hurry to the post office to send the telegram. The rabbit tucked the rolled up list under its arm… well, foreleg, and off it went, hopping out the door and along the road._

_Either I must be going mad or this whole village is under the influence of some experimental pharmaceuticals, maybe in the water. From now on I am drinking nothing but bottled imported beverages._

_All my love,_  
_K._

_October 7 th 1905_

_Oh sweetest Madeleine._

_Today I met a gigantic toad. Only marginally shorter than me, it was fat with long bowed legs and scrawny arms that had claw-like slimy hands. It was wearing what looked like quite an expensive three-piece suit as well as a pompous smile. Now I know what you would say, my lovely, amphibians cannot smile. I would have agreed except this one laughed out loud as well, patted me on the back and offered me a cigar for my trouble. Yes, this toad was the driver of the motor-car that ran me off the road. A toad!_

_Oh, Madeleine, I cannot understand what is happening. I feel like I have walked right into the fables of Aesop, remember, the ones I always said I would read for our children? When we do get married and, God permits, have children, remind me to burn that blasted book and every other fairytale found on my bookshelf!_

_With great worry but never ending love,_  
_K._

_October 9 th 1905_

_Madeleine oh Madeleine._

_Am I maybe no longer alive? Is this a dream? Am I in a state of coma? Nothing feels real anymore. There are animals everywhere! Walking, talking, wearing clothes like it is the most natural thing! Today I saw a mole and a water rat, rowing upon the river! They had fishing rods and the mole was reading a book. A book! Animals cannot read! They cannot talk and they surely cannot dress themselves in fine clothes. This is madness!_

_The doctor is as mad as me, or them. I cannot tell where the madness lies anymore. He seems determined to make me see that this is all normal, that I have forgotten my own reality. Have I? Is that what has happened? Is this what the world sees as normal and my life in London, with no animals apart from the occasional pet or bird, is that nothing but a lie? Please, Madeleine, answer my letters. Let me know the real world is still out there or I might lose myself completely in this one which reason has long forsaken._

_Desperately yours,_  
_K._

_October 11 th 1905_

_Dear Madeleine._

_I now have an explanation for why you have not answered any of my letters. As much as I have been depending on you to be my ally out there in the world of reason, I now know that hope to be futile. You see, the mailman is a dog. Ironic, is it not? Well, I thought so. Seems it hardly ever delivers any of the letters or parcels it is entrusted with, preferring to leave them buried in holes in the ground, usually somewhere in the woods, chewed up and never to be read. No one seems to mind, the animals do not have much need for a postal service, they say. This is a small community with hardly any communication with the rest of England, let alone the world._

_I do not know why I keep writing to you. I guess there is no better way to remind myself that this is not real. At least that is what I keep telling myself but what if I am wrong?_

_Fearfully yours,_  
_K._

_October 24 th 1905_

_Madeleine._

_My car was finally repaired, only to be stolen by that blasted toad which drove it straight into a ditch. He has been imprisoned for his actions but in this mad place, who knows what good it will do? I for one have accepted my fate to never leave this place of madness. The mole has offered me a place to stay for the winter, somewhere in the woods where he used to live before he moved in with the rat. Seems they have some strange relationship which I would rather not dwell upon. To be honest I would not know how to tell whether either of them were female. No matter, I have decided to take Mole up on his offer. He is a gentle and kind fellow, despite what his nature might be. I feel sure that I will not want for anything in the coming months. Please, if this letter has the good fortune of reaching you (the dog promises it will treat it with respect and hold its teeth at bay but I do not trust it to keep its word), do not worry about me. I have, at last, embraced my inner animal. I expect to emerge from my hibernation in the spring as whatever creature God means for me to be._

_Farewell my love and goodbye,_  
_K._  



End file.
